BROOKINGS An early Monday morning blaze at Brosts Fashions in downtown Brookings has destroyed the store, affected at least eight other businesses and left 13 apartments with an estimated 20 tenants uninhabitable until assessments can be carried out.
The fire was reported at 5:09 a.m., according to Brookings Police Chief Michael Drake, and occurred at 318 Main Ave. There were no injuries to firefighters or tenants as fire departments from Volga, Ramona and Madison arrived to support the Brookings Fire Department.
Todd Brost, whose mother Bernice Brost owns Brosts Fashions, told the Brookings Register that an apartment tenant above the store was the first to notice something wasnt right.
His smoke alarms went off at 5 oclock or whenever it was and he opened up the door and there was smoke in the hallway, Brost said. He went out the back window and called 911.
He added that his mother wasnt in the store when the fire started and is OK. She sold things such as clothing, gift items, crystals and health items vitamins and supplements he said.
Ultimately, the blaze collapsed the building housing Brosts Fashions. No damage estimate or cause of the fire was available Monday, but the state fire marshal is investigating. Additional information is expected to come in the days and weeks ahead as more details emerge.
In the meantime, Grunewaldt Properties LLC owner Kevin Grunewaldt said structural engineers are coming up from Sioux Falls to assess the conditions of the walls of the buildings that are adjacent to the now-collapsed one that housed Brosts, including the one he owns at 314 Main Ave. In addition, he said the city is providing loaders and trucks to make the site safer by getting materials out of the way.
Having these big, tall walls up here is really unsafe because they could collapse at any given point, which is no good for anybody, Grunewaldt said.
And while it appeared firefighters contained the flames to Brosts Fashions, the buildings adjacent to it sustained at least some smoke and water damage.
The biggest thing is, is all the businesses are all displaced but its not so much that, its the apartments up top, he said. I have seven one-bedroom apartments up there. The smoke damage and/or possibly the water we dont know yet, because we havent been able to go in the building to assess what is actually going on in there.
The affected businesses in his building are Johnson & Richter Creative, The Nook Bookstore, Emerald Grace Clothing Co., Prairie Soul Studio, Greenleaf Accounting and Hand Tied Floral. The latter has over a foot of water in its location in the basement, Grunewaldt said.
Nearby businesses also dealing with the fires impact include Seven Songbirds Boutique with half of its back ceiling collapsing during firefighting efforts and The Exchange, which sustained water damage, he said.
Its a fire that wont be soon forgotten, thats for sure.
We havent seen a fire like this in any of my memory and beyond that, so its going to be a big change for downtown, Kirsten Gjesdal, executive director of Downtown Brooking, said.
She said shes already receiving inquiries from people looking to lend a hand.
Weve had a number of people reach out already asking how they can volunteer and how they can help, Gjesdal said. Its kind of just waiting for the fire department to give us a little bit of a how to move forward and seeing where we can go from there.
She noted the business owners all have insurance. So hopefully that will help them quite a bit.
Grunewaldt said the United Way and the Red Cross have been quick to reach out to tenants affected by the blaze an estimated 20 people in all from 13 apartments in several buildings.
They actually had a meeting with all the tenants early (Monday) morning is what they did, he said. They all met at Perkins and they handed them out vouchers and gave them instructions about timeframes and how to handle stuff.
He noted the city of Brookings is also lending a hand to residents who suffered fire-related losses, including helping with financial aid questions.
Grunewaldt praised the aid efforts undertaken by the agencies and the city.
They stepped up and, really, took care of people right off the bat, he said. It was a lot of communication between just everyone just asking and talking to each other.
He had special gratitude for firefighters. These guys have been battling the fire for a while it was cold (Monday) morning. I mean, its kind of nice, but its still chilly, especially with the mist, and then they were rotating guys with holding the hoses.
He continued, Its appreciation for those guys. Showing up and getting this done and just the coordination.
Grunewaldt praised the Brookings Police Department as well.
They did a phenomenal job, too. Theyre working with the community and just made sure everybody was safe when the fire was still raging pretty strong, he said.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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